Music in the park, a heritage hockey weekend, baseball tournaments, Canada Day celebrations and the Summer Stomp are among the numerous events in the works for Sicamous this year.
There’s room for more though, and District of Sicamous recreation planner Jamie Sherlock was all ears, welcoming input for other possibilities during an public open house held last week in district council chambers.
After a welcome and introduction by Coun. Gord Bushell, the meeting got underway with a brief presentation by music promoter Shannon Sternloff of Revelstoke’s GetLiveMusic. Sternloff explained how he could pair up bands with whatever the need, and budget, might be.
Sherlock then began to go over the events the district is working on for the year. These include a Halloween party, an Easter Hockey Tournament, Canada Day celebrations and a Sicamous Heritage Hockey Weekend. For the latter, Sherlock explained how Sicamous has the highest number of professional hockey players to come from a Canadian community. The goal for the Heritage Hockey Weekend is to invite those players – Shea Weber, Cody and Cain Franson, Ron and Rob Flockhart, Colin Fraser and others – back to the community for a weekend of celebration that Sherlock said could include closing off Main Street for road hockey games. She added this could lead into another application for Sicamous to become the next Kraft Hockeyville.
Sherlock said there’s interest in bringing back the Fungi Festival, while an organizer and help is being sought to run this year’s Easter Egg Hunt event at Finlayson Park.
“Our hope is we fill up every weekend or have something each week,” said Sherlock, noting volunteer support would be needed for the events.
Wade Stewart of the Summer Stomp was on hand to take input. He welcomed the suggestion that the Stomp include more activities kids can get involved with.
Another suggestion was for a Miss Sicamous competition. Jake Dewitt cautioned, however, that the district would have to be prepared to support the successful candidate who would serve as an ambassador to the community. Referring to his own experience organizing baseball tournaments in the community, Dewit offered some advice for other events: start small, keep building and don’t give up.
Speaking for the Sicamous chamber, Michelle Wolff said the chamber is in the process of arranging a Music in the Park series, primarily intended for Beach Park, that would have performances on six Mondays during the summer. She said the chamber has another even in the works, but wasn’t ready to provide details.
Legion president Chris Wilson briefly explained what the legion is up to, and what it can offer to support the community.
Two things the meeting’s attendees expressed an interest in seeing: more recognition for local volunteers and a mobile-device friendly website that could serve as a hub for community events, where all events are listed along with links to the different community groups and organizations involved.